Geronimo His own story

Early life

I was born in No-doyohn Canon, Arizona, June,
1829.

In that country which lies around the head waters
of the Gila River I was reared. This range
was our fatherland; among these mountains our
wigwams were hidden; the scattered valleys contained
our fields; the boundless prairies, stretching
away on every side, were our pastures; the
rocky caverns were our burying places.

I was fourth in a family of eight children--
four boys and four girls. Of that family, only
myself, my brother, Porico, and
my sister, Nah-da-ste , are yet alive. We are held
as prisoners of war in this Military Reservation
(Fort Sill).

As a babe I rolled on the dirt floor of my
father's tepee, hung in my tsoch (Apache name
for cradle) at my mother's back, or suspended
from the bough of a tree. I was warmed by the
sun, rocked by the winds, and sheltered by the
trees as other Indian babes.

When a child my mother taught me the legends
of our people; taught me of the sun and
sky, the moon and stars, the clouds and storms.
She also taught me to kneel and pray to Usen for
strength, health, wisdom, and protection. We
never prayed against any person, but if we had
aught against any individual we ourselves took
vengeance. We were taught that Usen does not
care for the petty quarrels of men.

My father had often told me of the brave deeds
of our warriors, of the pleasures of the chase, and
the glories of the war path.

With my brothers and sisters I played about
my father's home. Sometimes we played at hide-and-seek
among the rocks and pines; sometimes
we loitered in the shade of the cottonwood trees
or sought the shudock (a kind of wild cherry)
while our parents worked in the field. Sometimes
we played that we were warriors. We would
practice stealing upon some object that represented
an enemy, and in our childish imitation
often perform the feats of war. Sometimes we
would hide away from our mother to see if she
could find us, and often when thus concealed go
to sleep and perhaps remain hidden for many
hours.

When we were old enough to be of real service
we went to the field with our parents: not to
play, but to toil. When the crops were to be
planted we broke the ground with wooden hoes.
We planted the corn in straight rows, the beans
among the corn, and the melons and pumpkins
in irregular order over the field. We cultivated
these crops as there was need.

Our field usually contained about two acres of
ground. The fields were never fenced. It was
common for many families to cultivate land in
the same valley and share the burden of protecting
the growing crops from destruction by the
ponies of the tribe, or by deer and other wild
animals.

Melons were gathered as they were consumed.
In the autumn pumpkins and beans were gathered
and placed in bags or baskets; ears of corn were
tied together by the husks, and then the harvest
was carried on the backs of ponies up to our
homes. Here the corn was shelled, and all the
harvest stored away in caves or other secluded
places to be used in winter.

We never fed corn to our ponies, but if we
kept them up in the winter time we gave them
fodder to eat. We had no cattle or other domestic
animals except our dogs and ponies.

We did not cultivate tobacco, but found it
growing wild. This we cut and cured in autumn,
but if the supply ran out the leaves from the stalks
left standing served our purpose. All Indians
smoked---men and women. No boy was allowed
to smoke until he had hunted alone and killed
large game--wolves and bears. Unmarried women
were not prohibited from smoking, but were
considered immodest if they did so. Nearly all
matrons smoked.

Besides grinding the corn (by hand with stone
mortars and pestles) for bread, we sometimes
crushed it and soaked it, and after it had fermented
made from this juice a tis-win, which had
the power of intoxication, and was very highly
prized by the Indians. This work was done by the
squaws and children. When berries or nuts were
to be gathered the small children and the squaws
would go in parties to hunt them, and sometimes
stay all day. When they went any great distance
from camp they took ponies to carry the baskets

I frequentLy went with these parties, and upon
one of these excursions a woman named Cho-ko-le
got lost from the party and was riding her pony
through a thicket in search of her friends. Her
little dog was following as she slowly made her
way through the thick underbrush and pine
trees. All at once a grizzly bear rose in her path
and attacked the pony. She jumped off and her
pony escaped, but the bear attacked her, so she
fought him the best she could with her knife. Her
little dog, by snapping at the bear's heels and distracting
his attention from the woman, enabled
her for some time to keep pretty well out of his
reach. Finally the grizzly struck her over the
head, tearing off almost her whole scalp. She fell,
but did not lose consciousness, and while prostrate
struck him four good licks with her knife,
and he retreated. After he had gone she replaced
her torn scalp and bound it up as best she could,
then she turned deathly sick and had to lie down.
That night her pony came into camp with his
load of nuts and berries, but no rider. The Indians
hunted for her, but did not find her until
the second day. They carried her home, and under
the treatment of their medicine men all her
wounds were healed.

The Indians knew what herbs to use for medicine,
how to prepare them, and how to give the
medicine. This they had been taught by Usen
in the beginning, and each succeeding generation
had men who were skilled in the art of healing.

In gathering the herbs, in preparing them, and
in administering the medicine, as much faith was
held in prayer as in the actual effect of the medicine.
Usually about eight persons worked together
in make medicine, and there were forms
of prayer and incantations to attend each stage
of the process. Four attended to the incantations
and four to the preparation of the herbs.

Some of the Indians were skilled in cutting out
bullets, arrow heads, and other missiles with
which warriors were wounded. I myself have
done much of this, using a common dirk or
butcher knife.

Small children wore very little clothing in winter
and none in the summer. Women usually wore
a primitive skirt, which consisted of a piece of
cotton cloth fastened about the waist, and extending
to the knees. Men wore breach clothes and
moccasins. In winter they had shirts and legging
in addition.

Frequently when the tribe was in camp a number
of boys and girls, by agreement, would steal
away and meet at a place several miles distant,
where they could play all day free from tasks.
They were never punished for these frolics; but
if their hiding places were discovered they were
ridiculed.